The End is Not the End is Not The-
End of Evangelion is one of the bleakest films I have ever watched, which is saying something coming from someone with a Letterboxd the length of the Nile. After hours upon hours of bearing witness to the evolution of countless characters, plot twists, and the veritable loop-de-loops that the story takes you on, to know that this is how it all shook out left me borderline catatonic. EoE, in my eyes, is comprised of three parts: Shinji’s recognition of his futility within the grand scheme of his wider existence in the world, the maturation (or lack thereof) of his relationship with Asuka, and finally, the Human Instrumentality Project (H.I.P.) and the Third Impact’s clear relation to Christianity and Christendom as a whole.
Over the course of the film, we watch as Shinji, who previously has been little else but an instrument of his father’s will and a reluctant participant in the whole of NERV’s works, struggles to reconcile himself with the very things that he has been doing, as well as form meaningful relationships. Everyone who once looked kindly upon Shinji met their demise, leaving him completely and utterly alone, resulting in Shinji adopting a rather self-flagellating worldview. Misato, his former mentor and elder-sister figure, gives her life saving Shinji, protecting him from harm, closing out the pair’s narrative loop where she rescued Shinji from certain death in episode 1 of the original series. Misato also advances herself sexually onto Shinji mere moments before her death, promising that she will sleep with him if he returns to her alive and in one piece—an obvious extension of Misato’s compulsion to use her femininity to communicate things she is incapable of saying verbally—and sends off the character with a bang, albeit with the implication that her death was less than final.
It’s impossible to discuss Evangelion without making mention of that hospital scene—but first, we need context. Shinji and Asuka have always been at odds, first as roommates, then rivals, and finally as emotionally stunted lovers who dance around one another in a manner that results in the pair regarding one another through a lens where each perceives the other as running counter to their own existence, contradictory on the grounds of differing beliefs and behaviors. When we are first introduced to Asuka, we see her as a child prodigy, a true genius who was all but made for the EVA program. We witness Asuka thrive in her role as a pilot, standing on the cutting edge of the program and serving as the basis against which her fellow pilot, Shinji, is measured. The pair are obviously attracted to one another, but their psychological issues prevent them from truly sharing their feelings with one another—Shinji, with his timidness and sexual ineptitudes, fails to pick up on Asuka’s pursuit(s) of him, effectively shunning her by consistently passing by any opportunity to engage with Asuka in any manner outside the surface level, if even that. Asuka’s headstrong nature and conception(s) of what Shinji ought to be as the “strong male” to her “strong female’, coupled with Shinji’s own deficiencies, make for a relationship that suffers a great many twists and turns, eventually culminating in the infamous hospital scene where Shinji kisses Asuka while she is in a coma and even pleasures himself to her naked body, which is implied to be a common occurrence.
Both Shinji and Asuka, on separate occasions, ask the other to be their devoted, romantic partner, and on both occasions, the other refuses. Asuka implores Shinji to surrender himself to her in his entirety, a request he refuses out of a lack of self-esteem and the belief that nobody truly loves him in any way that matters, and Shinji begs Asuka to be his better half, to be with her forever—a request that she denies despite desiring him anyway. Asuka and Shinji’s relationship is the final thing that the viewer sees in terms of the overarching story of Evangelion, with Shinji attempting to choke the life from Asuka whilst in tears after the Third Impact, only to give up once the latter caresses his cheek before spitting nigh-venomously in his direction, alone in an ocean of red. The two are the perfect illustration of what havoc toxic love, genuine as it might be, can wreak when exhibited by two deeply traumatized individuals.
As for the Third Impact itself, it has overt similarities to the Biblical concept of The Second Coming, or the Rapture. The liberation of souls from physical form to unite with a singular entity, within which they will be complete and want for nothing, rationalized as the natural progression of humanity—its destiny truly—is likely the basis upon which the Third Impact and the H.I.P. are predicated, not to mention the wealth of cross motifs to be found across the length and breadth of the anime, chief among them being Misato’s pendant, which we see Shinji journey on with, and the cross-shaped beams that erupt forth when the entire occurrence is at hand and the souls of Evangelion’s world are being harvested. Shinji, as close to a messianic figure as Evangelion ever gets, falters in the face of absolute power, condemning himself and the entire world to death on the back of his sense of inferiority and belief that the human race is beyond saving—only to then about-face and champion individuality, determined to bring about change, only to succeed and realize the damage is done; the world is barren and forever unchanged.
EoE wraps with the realization that Gendo Ikari, through bringing about the Third Impact, technically won—and now, his son, alongside his Madonna, must go forth and remake the world in his image—a Neo(n) Genesis.
